Nobleman Orders His Enemies Brought Before Himby CBPepper
19:14Luke 19:14
But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.
In the parable of the pounds the nobleman entrusts his own capital to his servants to trade with until he returns to reckon with them, and the citizens who hated him and refused his rule represent rejection of Christ's authority as ruler and owner. That refusal was made by the Jewish nation and its rulers in rejecting Jesus as Prince and King, made plain when they chose Barabbas and demanded Christ's crucifixion, declaring Caesar their king rather than obeying God's final appeal through His Son. The same cry describes every unregenerate heart that will not let Christ reign, a deliberate choice made in response to light that is recorded in heaven as the decision for eternity. It means choosing one's own way instead of the Lord's way, rejecting God's commandments for human laws and teachings, and thereby placing oneself under Satan's rule as a bond slave in rebellion. By such lives of rebellion the wicked commit high treason against the government of heaven so their exclusion is just, and at His coronation and final judgment they will see what they forfeited and confess they exchanged peace, happiness and honor for wretchedness, ruin and death.
Parable Setting and Meaning
Luke 19:14 belongs to the parable of the pounds, in which a nobleman entrusts resources to his servants and afterward returns to require an account of how they have used them. The episode of the citizens who reject his rule is part of that setting of entrusted gifts, personal responsibility, and reckoning for stewardship. Some expositions of the parable draw no lesson from the citizens' hatred and refusal itself, applying the parable only to the faithful use of entrusted talents and goods to advance God's work.
The pound is the Lord's own capital and deposit advanced to His servants to trade diligently for Him, not the servant's own property to monopolize as he pleases. No gain could be made without the first deposit and no interest without the principal, so success in trading comes from Him and to Him belongs all praise and glory. The time of service is therefore a day of solemn privilege, sacred trust, and destiny decided for life or for death, followed by a day of reckoning, yet faithful returns do not buy heaven or earn personal merit. The faithful servant takes no credit to himself but returns the increase to the Lord, bringing tithes and abundant willing offerings according as God has prospered him, while selfishly appropriating what God has lent is covetousness, which is idolatry bringing a curse for robbing God.
The citizens' hatred and refusal to accept the nobleman's rule represents rejection of Christ's authority as ruler and as the owner's representative. Luke 19:12-27 presents people entrusted with their Lord's goods for a time and tested by how faithfully they use them, with what is returned and the reward or punishment corresponding to each person's use of what was entrusted. That call to trade faithfully applies to using opportunities for service, obeying God's will, developing Christian character, and helping others, and diverting entrusted riches to self-gratification and display while human need and God's work lack support is unfaithful service. When the Owner comes He investigates how His goods were used and rewards those who prove faithful, and each servant must personally answer to the Master, since church membership alone without such obedient service does not secure entrance into the kingdom.
Jewish Rejection of Christ
The verse shows the Jewish nation and its rulers refusing Jesus as their Prince and King, bringing a curse upon themselves by that refusal. Their hatred arose from envy of His character and success, from fear that His teaching would expose their selfishness and hypocrisy, and from hatred of the righteousness and piety His life embodied. In this they rejected His authority as ruler and as the owner's representative, refusing to have Him rule over them. Their choice was made plain when they demanded that Barabbas be released and Jesus be crucified, thereby rejecting God's final appeal through His Son and declaring Caesar their king rather than obeying Him and choosing the way that leads to life.
The Pharisees' rejection became settled rebellion hardened in hatred, envy, prejudice and unbelief. He became a stumbling block to them until they plotted murder and even sought the death of Lazarus. That course left them beyond the reach of further help, as having sinned against the Holy Spirit. The Jews rejected Him because they prized earthly power and national greatness over His humble mission. Prejudice and refusal to test their hopes by Scripture kept them from recognizing the evidence of His Messiahship and the time of His visitation. Accepting His teaching would have required repentance and surrender of cherished hopes, but recognizing Him could have spared Jerusalem's destruction.
Heart Rebellion Against Christ
The verse describes the refusal of unregenerate hearts to let Christ reign over them, the same hatred that cried for His crucifixion and rejected Him. It is a satanic spirit at war with Jesus, the spirit that sent His followers to prison, exile, torture, the inquisition, massacre and burning, and it still works with malignant energy in the children of disobedience today as in past ages. Rejection is a deliberate choice made in response to the light God gives, determining which side a person takes, for by choosing rebellion over obedience to God's word people declare they will not have Him reign over them. When people in probation choose not to let Christ rule them, that choice is recorded in heaven as their decision for eternity.
It describes those who have light in the Word of God and through His messengers but do not heed it because it does not coincide with their own temperament, disposition, ideas, appetites and character. When their errors and wrongs are presented they do not put them away and reform, but say in heart and mind, if not in speech, that they will not have Jesus to rule over them, claiming independent judgment and refusing to be controlled by any man's mind or ideas. They misuse mercies, reject warnings and despise entreaties because natural temperament and inclinations predominate, they do not keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment, and their judgment will be proportionate to the light given and the talents entrusted. People say they will not have Christ rule over them when they reject God's commandments in favor of human laws and teachings, enforce human requirements on conscience, and teach human commandments as God's commandments. This puts the human above the divine and joins them with the first great apostate, deciding their future destiny.
The cry, We will not have this man to reign over us, means departing from God and from Christ, choosing one's own way instead of the Lord's way and forsaking His way, like apostate Israel's choice of Baal. That departure is departure from God into infidelity and giving place to skepticism. It means neglecting and rejecting the true and only Bible religion of forgiveness solely through the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour, righteousness by faith in the Son of God, faith in the blood of the Lamb, the life of Jesus in the soul, and the active principle of love imparted by the Holy Spirit that alone makes the soul fruitful unto good works. That religion is slighted, spoken against, ridiculed and denounced as enthusiasm and fanaticism.
Refusing to acknowledge Jesus as the divine Son of God, the world's Redeemer and the channel through whom all blessings come, is refusing to have Him rule, for rejecting Him rejects His authority and the blessings He brings. It belongs to those who are self-willed and puffed up with pride and self-importance, who will not yield their wills to be in harmony with God's will, yet accept the delusions of false prophets and are led to deny Christ as the Son of God. Even while professing to be doing good work they are greatly deceived, trampling upon the blood of the covenant and counting as an unholy thing that which should have sanctified them. Those who reject Christ's rule take their position under the banner of rebellion as bond slaves under Satan's rule to serve him, a large number of God's subjects in rebellion against Christ as their ruler. Impenitent sinners rebel despite receiving God's mercy and love, resist the Holy Spirit's pleading, choose darkness by turning from Christ, and by influence draw others away from Him.
Refusing or delaying acceptance of salvation continues that same rejection, for resisting God's transforming grace and refusing to yield the will hardens the heart, reduces openness to the Spirit's appeals, and leaves a person to the choice made. Thousands now speak its language, for grievous sins have separated people from God, infidelity is fast becoming fashionable, and opposition to the gospel and God's commandments expresses refusal to have Him reign. Therefore God's people must lift up the voice like a trumpet and show the people their transgressions, preaching the plain, sharp truths of God's word that cut to the heart instead of smooth sermons that make no lasting impression, making plain, stern rebuke necessary.
Judgment and Eternal Loss
By lives of rebellion the wicked declare they will not have Jesus to reign over them, and their exclusion from heaven is therefore just. In rejecting Jesus as King they commit high treason against the government of heaven, so at the bar of God they are without excuse and under sentence of eternal death. Refusal is made by actions, and those who so refuse will lose the privilege of remaining under His rule when He sits on the throne of judgment. He will no longer stand accused before Pilate and Herod, but will sit as Judge, with Pilate and Herod and the priests and rulers who demanded their Messiah's death standing before Him whom they scourged and handed over, struck and mocked, facing the wrath of the Lamb.
At His coronation and final judgment they will see Him surrounded by the redeemed, who bear the sign The Lord our Righteousness, while His faithful ones receive crowns of immortal glory. With the cross and the whole plan of redemption laid open before them, they see what they forfeited by rebellion. They confess they might have had peace, happiness, honor and a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, but put them far away. They learn that what rebellion promised as noble independence and eternal life is in fact slavery, ruin and death. They admit they exchanged peace, happiness and honor for wretchedness, infamy and despair, acknowledge that none can plead their cause, and see that their exclusion is just.
Though such refusal deserves punishment, God does not treat rebels as they deserve, but keeps His hand of love stretched out still, entreating them to leave rebellion and enlist in His army. Christ gave His life for them on Calvary even though in rejecting His rule they chose to place themselves under Satan's rule as bond slaves. When human beings take hold of His divinity its power helps them overcome bad temper, sinful disposition and unbelief, for this is a battle and victory comes through Christ. The heart-cry of refusal is departure from God and from Christ giving place to skepticism and infidelity, and restoration to God requires zealous repentance, returning to first love, and regeneration of heart.
Stewardship and Final Reckoning
The parable teaches that disciples cannot remain slothful servants but must work, watching for opportunity to represent truth to others and win souls to Christ. The more talents are exercised the greater the increase of capability, and the lesson is the necessity of mental and moral improvement, of growing in grace and in knowledge of Christ. Unless seed sown struggles above the soil and springs up into life, it loses all power to germinate.
Mere profession of faith in Christ has no value as proof of genuine faith, for those justified by faith are judged by works. Genuine love is shown by works, and faith works by love and purifies the soul of moral defilement so that it may become a temple for the Lord. When the master returns the servants' use of what was entrusted will be examined, and he expects increase of what was received. United with Christ by living faith, His chosen servants as workers bearing cares, burdens and responsibilities are laborers together with God.
God has given to every person talents in trust and his own work, so there can be no idlers in His vineyard. The entrusted gifts, from the light of truth to all spiritual advantages, are proportioned to varied capabilities from the lowliest and most obscure to those in highest positions of trust. The talents are abilities entrusted for saving souls perishing out of Christ and making Christ known to the world, given to every one and to all who profess truth, not to ministers alone.
Servants are expected to increase entrusted talents and return them to their lord with gain and usury, growing more and better qualified by trading and use. They handle not their own goods but the Master's capital to invest and increase as wise stewards, to return corresponding increase with usury. To bind the talent in a napkin and bury it in the earth is to do nothing, to let souls die, to be an idler in the marketplace and a slothful church member. Hoarding the Lord's goods and doing nothing brings loss of soul, as with the slothful servant and his one pound. To unearth the talent and put it out to the exchangers is to minister to others and to teach and educate church members to become diligent laborers in the harvest field, furnishing hundreds whose use develops men for positions of trust and influence and accomplishes great good for the Master. Those who have received spiritual advantages should develop and use those gifts for the Lord rather than let abilities and spirituality decline. Every one must improve in character and ability according to privileges and opportunities to make a complete worker.
Accountability is measured by capacity given, for a servant is not required to produce three pounds from one but must use the one faithfully rather than return it unimproved. Using entrusted gifts can increase them, and each person is responsible both for gifts received and for further gifts gained through use. Christ entrusts people with means and influence and requires faithful use of these gifts until He comes, rather than leaving the responsibility to children. All are accountable according to abilities, and at the reckoning each receives reward in proportion to zeal, faithfulness and success shown in using what was entrusted.
Refusing Christ to reign includes refusing to connect with the Maker, refusing to give self to His service, and refusing to trade upon His entrusted gifts. God gives every person work and entrusts tithes, gifts, offerings, means and ability, and calls for them to be put into His treasury and used with frugality and self-denial to give the message of truth not only at home but in regions beyond. No one is compelled to give, but God will surely require His own with usury from every human being. Those unfaithful in rendering to God His own and disregarding His charge lose the blessing of what was entrusted to them and are unfaithful stewards.
Entrusted money, gifts and possessions in varying amounts are held in trust to advance God's work and build His kingdom, not for self-glorification, self-indulgence, self-gratification or display. Even those given little can use what they have faithfully, while those who put gifts and opportunities to good use gain and those who fail to use them lose what could have increased. Diverting entrusted riches to self-gratification and display while people need help and the work of God lacks support is unfaithful service. When the Owner comes He investigates how His goods were used, and those who prove faithful receive His reward.
Neglecting the Lord's goods and selfishly withholding the Lord's portion retards His work. Using the master's goods for personal gain perverts the trust placed in the steward, for a steward represents his master and must act in his master's interests. God is robbed when men and women fail to connect with Him so that mind, soul and strength are controlled by the Holy Spirit. A faithful steward acts in partnership with God, does all he possibly can in His service, and through love of the truth and sanctification banishes avarice, overreaching and every dishonesty.
There is no second probation, and day by day and hour by hour people are building for the last great day by trading on the Lord's money. As responsible beings they are working for time and for eternity, making records in the books of heaven and preparing reward or punishment. At His coming the Lord will reckon with every responsible being and require an account of what was done with His goods, expecting results from everyone with reward proportionate to work.
The time of service is a day of solemn privilege, sacred trust and destiny decided for life or for death, followed by a day of trust and then reckoning and reward. The pound is the Lord's own capital and deposit, not the servant's own property to monopolize, so no gain could be made without the first deposit and no interest without the principal. Success in trading comes from Him, and to Him belongs all praise and glory. Faithful returns do not buy heaven or earn personal merit, and the faithful servant takes no credit to himself but returns increase to the Lord, bringing tithes and abundant willing offerings according as God has prospered him. Selfishly appropriating what God has lent is covetousness, which is idolatry, and places men under the curse for robbing God.
Each person is responsible for faithfully using what God has entrusted, and those given fewer gifts are no less accountable or able to serve faithfully than those given more. The work and accountability cannot be transferred to another person or taken over by human judgment. Church membership alone without using opportunities for service, obeying God's will, developing Christian character and helping others does not secure entrance into the kingdom.
Faithful trading means the Lord is soon to come and every talent entrusted must be returned with increase, and all property lent must be used for His glory. Those who have means must at once return to the Lord His own to help His suffering institutions out of embarrassment, without a day or hour of delay looking over affairs and bringing offerings of His own freely given. Those in responsible positions must set a right example by planning and working for their relief with greater earnestness than for their own property. Money so given is placed in the hands of Christ in the person of His afflicted brethren, and if men do their part heavenly angels will be commissioned to help in time of special need. That same faithful use applies to supporting sanitariums and gospel work and links to the day of reward.
The call to trade faithfully is a call to use abilities and responsibilities to serve others and save souls. It applies to using opportunities for service, obeying God's will, developing Christian character and helping others. Each member of God's family is to use aright what is entrusted, doing this as individual earnest work with effort to find peace in Christ. So done, he places himself as a laborer together with God in most perfect harmony with God's appointed agencies in molding human character after the divine similitude.
In the parable of the pounds the nobleman entrusts his own capital to his servants to trade with until he returns to reckon with them, and the citizens who hated him and refused his rule represent rejection of Christ's authority as ruler and owner. That refusal was made by the Jewish nation and its rulers in rejecting Jesus as Prince and King, made plain when they chose Barabbas and demanded Christ's crucifixion, declaring Caesar their king rather than obeying God's final appeal through His Son. The same cry describes every unregenerate heart that will not let Christ reign, a deliberate choice made in response to light that is recorded in heaven as the decision for eternity. It means choosing one's own way instead of the Lord's way, rejecting God's commandments for human laws and teachings, and thereby placing oneself under Satan's rule as a bond slave in rebellion. By such lives of rebellion the wicked commit high treason against the government of heaven so their exclusion is just, and at His coronation and final judgment they will see what they forfeited and confess they exchanged peace, happiness and honor for wretchedness, ruin and death.
Parable Setting and Meaning
Luke 19:14 belongs to the parable of the pounds, in which a nobleman entrusts resources to his servants and afterward returns to require an account of how they have used them. The episode of the citizens who reject his rule is part of that setting of entrusted gifts, personal responsibility, and reckoning for stewardship. Some expositions of the parable draw no lesson from the citizens' hatred and refusal itself, applying the parable only to the faithful use of entrusted talents and goods to advance God's work.
The pound is the Lord's own capital and deposit advanced to His servants to trade diligently for Him, not the servant's own property to monopolize as he pleases. No gain could be made without the first deposit and no interest without the principal, so success in trading comes from Him and to Him belongs all praise and glory. The time of service is therefore a day of solemn privilege, sacred trust, and destiny decided for life or for death, followed by a day of reckoning, yet faithful returns do not buy heaven or earn personal merit. The faithful servant takes no credit to himself but returns the increase to the Lord, bringing tithes and abundant willing offerings according as God has prospered him, while selfishly appropriating what God has lent is covetousness, which is idolatry bringing a curse for robbing God.
The citizens' hatred and refusal to accept the nobleman's rule represents rejection of Christ's authority as ruler and as the owner's representative. Luke 19:12-27 presents people entrusted with their Lord's goods for a time and tested by how faithfully they use them, with what is returned and the reward or punishment corresponding to each person's use of what was entrusted. That call to trade faithfully applies to using opportunities for service, obeying God's will, developing Christian character, and helping others, and diverting entrusted riches to self-gratification and display while human need and God's work lack support is unfaithful service. When the Owner comes He investigates how His goods were used and rewards those who prove faithful, and each servant must personally answer to the Master, since church membership alone without such obedient service does not secure entrance into the kingdom.
Jewish Rejection of Christ
The verse shows the Jewish nation and its rulers refusing Jesus as their Prince and King, bringing a curse upon themselves by that refusal. Their hatred arose from envy of His character and success, from fear that His teaching would expose their selfishness and hypocrisy, and from hatred of the righteousness and piety His life embodied. In this they rejected His authority as ruler and as the owner's representative, refusing to have Him rule over them. Their choice was made plain when they demanded that Barabbas be released and Jesus be crucified, thereby rejecting God's final appeal through His Son and declaring Caesar their king rather than obeying Him and choosing the way that leads to life.
The Pharisees' rejection became settled rebellion hardened in hatred, envy, prejudice and unbelief. He became a stumbling block to them until they plotted murder and even sought the death of Lazarus. That course left them beyond the reach of further help, as having sinned against the Holy Spirit. The Jews rejected Him because they prized earthly power and national greatness over His humble mission. Prejudice and refusal to test their hopes by Scripture kept them from recognizing the evidence of His Messiahship and the time of His visitation. Accepting His teaching would have required repentance and surrender of cherished hopes, but recognizing Him could have spared Jerusalem's destruction.
Heart Rebellion Against Christ
The verse describes the refusal of unregenerate hearts to let Christ reign over them, the same hatred that cried for His crucifixion and rejected Him. It is a satanic spirit at war with Jesus, the spirit that sent His followers to prison, exile, torture, the inquisition, massacre and burning, and it still works with malignant energy in the children of disobedience today as in past ages. Rejection is a deliberate choice made in response to the light God gives, determining which side a person takes, for by choosing rebellion over obedience to God's word people declare they will not have Him reign over them. When people in probation choose not to let Christ rule them, that choice is recorded in heaven as their decision for eternity.
It describes those who have light in the Word of God and through His messengers but do not heed it because it does not coincide with their own temperament, disposition, ideas, appetites and character. When their errors and wrongs are presented they do not put them away and reform, but say in heart and mind, if not in speech, that they will not have Jesus to rule over them, claiming independent judgment and refusing to be controlled by any man's mind or ideas. They misuse mercies, reject warnings and despise entreaties because natural temperament and inclinations predominate, they do not keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment, and their judgment will be proportionate to the light given and the talents entrusted. People say they will not have Christ rule over them when they reject God's commandments in favor of human laws and teachings, enforce human requirements on conscience, and teach human commandments as God's commandments. This puts the human above the divine and joins them with the first great apostate, deciding their future destiny.
The cry, We will not have this man to reign over us, means departing from God and from Christ, choosing one's own way instead of the Lord's way and forsaking His way, like apostate Israel's choice of Baal. That departure is departure from God into infidelity and giving place to skepticism. It means neglecting and rejecting the true and only Bible religion of forgiveness solely through the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour, righteousness by faith in the Son of God, faith in the blood of the Lamb, the life of Jesus in the soul, and the active principle of love imparted by the Holy Spirit that alone makes the soul fruitful unto good works. That religion is slighted, spoken against, ridiculed and denounced as enthusiasm and fanaticism.
Refusing to acknowledge Jesus as the divine Son of God, the world's Redeemer and the channel through whom all blessings come, is refusing to have Him rule, for rejecting Him rejects His authority and the blessings He brings. It belongs to those who are self-willed and puffed up with pride and self-importance, who will not yield their wills to be in harmony with God's will, yet accept the delusions of false prophets and are led to deny Christ as the Son of God. Even while professing to be doing good work they are greatly deceived, trampling upon the blood of the covenant and counting as an unholy thing that which should have sanctified them. Those who reject Christ's rule take their position under the banner of rebellion as bond slaves under Satan's rule to serve him, a large number of God's subjects in rebellion against Christ as their ruler. Impenitent sinners rebel despite receiving God's mercy and love, resist the Holy Spirit's pleading, choose darkness by turning from Christ, and by influence draw others away from Him.
Refusing or delaying acceptance of salvation continues that same rejection, for resisting God's transforming grace and refusing to yield the will hardens the heart, reduces openness to the Spirit's appeals, and leaves a person to the choice made. Thousands now speak its language, for grievous sins have separated people from God, infidelity is fast becoming fashionable, and opposition to the gospel and God's commandments expresses refusal to have Him reign. Therefore God's people must lift up the voice like a trumpet and show the people their transgressions, preaching the plain, sharp truths of God's word that cut to the heart instead of smooth sermons that make no lasting impression, making plain, stern rebuke necessary.
Judgment and Eternal Loss
By lives of rebellion the wicked declare they will not have Jesus to reign over them, and their exclusion from heaven is therefore just. In rejecting Jesus as King they commit high treason against the government of heaven, so at the bar of God they are without excuse and under sentence of eternal death. Refusal is made by actions, and those who so refuse will lose the privilege of remaining under His rule when He sits on the throne of judgment. He will no longer stand accused before Pilate and Herod, but will sit as Judge, with Pilate and Herod and the priests and rulers who demanded their Messiah's death standing before Him whom they scourged and handed over, struck and mocked, facing the wrath of the Lamb.
At His coronation and final judgment they will see Him surrounded by the redeemed, who bear the sign The Lord our Righteousness, while His faithful ones receive crowns of immortal glory. With the cross and the whole plan of redemption laid open before them, they see what they forfeited by rebellion. They confess they might have had peace, happiness, honor and a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, but put them far away. They learn that what rebellion promised as noble independence and eternal life is in fact slavery, ruin and death. They admit they exchanged peace, happiness and honor for wretchedness, infamy and despair, acknowledge that none can plead their cause, and see that their exclusion is just.
Though such refusal deserves punishment, God does not treat rebels as they deserve, but keeps His hand of love stretched out still, entreating them to leave rebellion and enlist in His army. Christ gave His life for them on Calvary even though in rejecting His rule they chose to place themselves under Satan's rule as bond slaves. When human beings take hold of His divinity its power helps them overcome bad temper, sinful disposition and unbelief, for this is a battle and victory comes through Christ. The heart-cry of refusal is departure from God and from Christ giving place to skepticism and infidelity, and restoration to God requires zealous repentance, returning to first love, and regeneration of heart.
Stewardship and Final Reckoning
The parable teaches that disciples cannot remain slothful servants but must work, watching for opportunity to represent truth to others and win souls to Christ. The more talents are exercised the greater the increase of capability, and the lesson is the necessity of mental and moral improvement, of growing in grace and in knowledge of Christ. Unless seed sown struggles above the soil and springs up into life, it loses all power to germinate.
Mere profession of faith in Christ has no value as proof of genuine faith, for those justified by faith are judged by works. Genuine love is shown by works, and faith works by love and purifies the soul of moral defilement so that it may become a temple for the Lord. When the master returns the servants' use of what was entrusted will be examined, and he expects increase of what was received. United with Christ by living faith, His chosen servants as workers bearing cares, burdens and responsibilities are laborers together with God.
God has given to every person talents in trust and his own work, so there can be no idlers in His vineyard. The entrusted gifts, from the light of truth to all spiritual advantages, are proportioned to varied capabilities from the lowliest and most obscure to those in highest positions of trust. The talents are abilities entrusted for saving souls perishing out of Christ and making Christ known to the world, given to every one and to all who profess truth, not to ministers alone.
Servants are expected to increase entrusted talents and return them to their lord with gain and usury, growing more and better qualified by trading and use. They handle not their own goods but the Master's capital to invest and increase as wise stewards, to return corresponding increase with usury. To bind the talent in a napkin and bury it in the earth is to do nothing, to let souls die, to be an idler in the marketplace and a slothful church member. Hoarding the Lord's goods and doing nothing brings loss of soul, as with the slothful servant and his one pound. To unearth the talent and put it out to the exchangers is to minister to others and to teach and educate church members to become diligent laborers in the harvest field, furnishing hundreds whose use develops men for positions of trust and influence and accomplishes great good for the Master. Those who have received spiritual advantages should develop and use those gifts for the Lord rather than let abilities and spirituality decline. Every one must improve in character and ability according to privileges and opportunities to make a complete worker.
Accountability is measured by capacity given, for a servant is not required to produce three pounds from one but must use the one faithfully rather than return it unimproved. Using entrusted gifts can increase them, and each person is responsible both for gifts received and for further gifts gained through use. Christ entrusts people with means and influence and requires faithful use of these gifts until He comes, rather than leaving the responsibility to children. All are accountable according to abilities, and at the reckoning each receives reward in proportion to zeal, faithfulness and success shown in using what was entrusted.
Refusing Christ to reign includes refusing to connect with the Maker, refusing to give self to His service, and refusing to trade upon His entrusted gifts. God gives every person work and entrusts tithes, gifts, offerings, means and ability, and calls for them to be put into His treasury and used with frugality and self-denial to give the message of truth not only at home but in regions beyond. No one is compelled to give, but God will surely require His own with usury from every human being. Those unfaithful in rendering to God His own and disregarding His charge lose the blessing of what was entrusted to them and are unfaithful stewards.
Entrusted money, gifts and possessions in varying amounts are held in trust to advance God's work and build His kingdom, not for self-glorification, self-indulgence, self-gratification or display. Even those given little can use what they have faithfully, while those who put gifts and opportunities to good use gain and those who fail to use them lose what could have increased. Diverting entrusted riches to self-gratification and display while people need help and the work of God lacks support is unfaithful service. When the Owner comes He investigates how His goods were used, and those who prove faithful receive His reward.
Neglecting the Lord's goods and selfishly withholding the Lord's portion retards His work. Using the master's goods for personal gain perverts the trust placed in the steward, for a steward represents his master and must act in his master's interests. God is robbed when men and women fail to connect with Him so that mind, soul and strength are controlled by the Holy Spirit. A faithful steward acts in partnership with God, does all he possibly can in His service, and through love of the truth and sanctification banishes avarice, overreaching and every dishonesty.
There is no second probation, and day by day and hour by hour people are building for the last great day by trading on the Lord's money. As responsible beings they are working for time and for eternity, making records in the books of heaven and preparing reward or punishment. At His coming the Lord will reckon with every responsible being and require an account of what was done with His goods, expecting results from everyone with reward proportionate to work.
The time of service is a day of solemn privilege, sacred trust and destiny decided for life or for death, followed by a day of trust and then reckoning and reward. The pound is the Lord's own capital and deposit, not the servant's own property to monopolize, so no gain could be made without the first deposit and no interest without the principal. Success in trading comes from Him, and to Him belongs all praise and glory. Faithful returns do not buy heaven or earn personal merit, and the faithful servant takes no credit to himself but returns increase to the Lord, bringing tithes and abundant willing offerings according as God has prospered him. Selfishly appropriating what God has lent is covetousness, which is idolatry, and places men under the curse for robbing God.
Each person is responsible for faithfully using what God has entrusted, and those given fewer gifts are no less accountable or able to serve faithfully than those given more. The work and accountability cannot be transferred to another person or taken over by human judgment. Church membership alone without using opportunities for service, obeying God's will, developing Christian character and helping others does not secure entrance into the kingdom.
Faithful trading means the Lord is soon to come and every talent entrusted must be returned with increase, and all property lent must be used for His glory. Those who have means must at once return to the Lord His own to help His suffering institutions out of embarrassment, without a day or hour of delay looking over affairs and bringing offerings of His own freely given. Those in responsible positions must set a right example by planning and working for their relief with greater earnestness than for their own property. Money so given is placed in the hands of Christ in the person of His afflicted brethren, and if men do their part heavenly angels will be commissioned to help in time of special need. That same faithful use applies to supporting sanitariums and gospel work and links to the day of reward.
The call to trade faithfully is a call to use abilities and responsibilities to serve others and save souls. It applies to using opportunities for service, obeying God's will, developing Christian character and helping others. Each member of God's family is to use aright what is entrusted, doing this as individual earnest work with effort to find peace in Christ. So done, he places himself as a laborer together with God in most perfect harmony with God's appointed agencies in molding human character after the divine similitude.